What Disabled Folks Need: Roe v Wade and Home and Community-Based Services

This article by Kayla Rodríguez and Oluwatobi Odugunwa explores two intertwined crises for disabled people in the United States: the erosion of reproductive rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the chronic underfunding of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). Drawing on their own experiences—Kayla’s heightened health risks from PCOS and Georgia’s near-total abortion ban, and Oluwatobi’s arduous journey on the Black August Freedom Rides—the authors illuminate how disabled bodies are both infantilized and denied bodily autonomy. They then turn to HCBS, revealing that over 665,000 people nationwide (and thousands in Georgia alone) languish on waiver waiting lists while institutional care remains heavily financed. The piece concludes with concrete calls to action: for nondisabled allies to amplify disabled voices and for disabled people to organize within communities such as the U.S. Alliance of Women, Nonbinary Persons, and Other Gender Minorities with Disabilities.

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Human Rights Committee (HRC): Submission for Reporting of the United States of America on Women and Gender Diverse People with Disabilities

The U.S. Gender and Disability Justice Alliance,Women Enabled International (WEI), Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network,and the Autistic People of Color Fund, appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the Human Rights Committee’s consideration of the U.S.’s periodic report to the Committee. Women and girls with disabilities account for approximately 16% of all women in the U.S., and […]

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A person with purple hair, wearing a T-shirt that reads “ had an abortion,” and holding a sign that says “ABORTION JUSTICE NOW. The Capital-building is in the background.

Storytelling Project on Medium

We’re excited to share our new storytelling project on Medium, highlighting the experiences of women and gender-diverse people with disabilities as they navigate sexual and reproductive healthcare and/or gender-affirming care. Through first-person narratives, this series amplifies voices that are too often unheard—revealing both the barriers faced and the resilience shown in pursuit of vital health […]

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A picture of Judy speaking at a panel. She is wearing a pink top and is sitting in front of a microphone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Impact of Judy Heumann’s Legacy Within the Disability Community

This article by Makahla Jackson and Dr. Ashley Volion honors the late disability-rights trailblazer Judy Heumann—often called the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement”—and traces how her bold, partnership-driven leadership continues to inspire today’s advocates. It outlines Judy’s early fight for school access, her ethos of “Nothing About Us Without Us” forged at Camp Jened, […]

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The U.S. Gender and Disability Justice Alliance, an initiative of Women Enabled International, is a disability justice-oriented collective convening women and gender-diverse people with disabilities from across the United States together to take action on issues important to our community.

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The Alliance is sponsored by Women Enabled International and is especially grateful for the generoisty of the New York Women’s Foundation and the PRBB Foundation.

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